12 x Pat McGrath Subversive Mothership Eyeshadow Palette Look Ideas
Pat McGrath Subversive Mothership Eyeshadow Palette ($125.00 for 0.47 oz.) is a mix of neutrals and pops of color like rich, pinky-purple, copper with pink-to-peach shift, and intense gold. I remember enjoying this palette for its more cohesive nature–I felt like I could work more easily within the palette, though I expect that given the spread of color and finish in this, one might still want to pull in go-to brow bone, transition, and possibly a few more, coordinating mattes to take advantage of some of the colorful shades (without reverting to brown or black for depth).
About This Series
Each look idea is centered around a “quad” of four shades with the expectation that one might bring in the appropriate brow bone or additional transitional shade based on skin tone. I know that I tend to use more like five or six shades in a typical look, but I think that four is a happy medium to give a good idea of the “core” color scheme of a look while giving you the ability to lighten/darken as desired. I have listed the colors in this order: inner lid, middle of lid, outer lid/crease, and crease/above crease.
You might see combinations that seem slightly repeated but placement will vary (e.g. a halo placement where the lightest and more shimmery shade is placed on the center) as placement can also create a different effect/look! You might also want to consider incorporating your favorite matte/shimmer shades (as applicable) to increase the versatility of certain palettes. Consider these ideas a jumping off point!
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 1.0
- Pat McGrath Astral Ghost Orchid — A Cool Pink with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Night Creature — A Warm Purple with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Blitz Amethyst — A Neutral Purple with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Xtreme Black — A Neutral Black with a Matte finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 2.0
- Pat McGrath Skinshow Fever — A Warm Gold with a Frost finish.
- Pat McGrath Gigabyte — A Warm Gold with a Metallic finish.
- Pat McGrath Lazarus — A Warm Brown with a Frost finish.
- Pat McGrath Deep Shade — A Neutral Brown with a Matte finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 3.0
- Pat McGrath Skinshow Fever — A Warm Gold with a Frost finish.
- Pat McGrath Night Creature — A Warm Purple with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Blitz Amethyst — A Neutral Purple with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Lazarus — A Warm Brown with a Frost finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 4.0
- Pat McGrath Night Creature — A Warm Purple with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Deep Shade — A Neutral Brown with a Matte finish.
- Pat McGrath Xtreme Black — A Neutral Black with a Matte finish.
- Pat McGrath Skinshow Fever — A Warm Gold with a Frost finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 5.0
- Pat McGrath Skinshow Fever — A Warm Gold with a Frost finish.
- Pat McGrath Deep Shade — A Neutral Brown with a Matte finish.
- Pat McGrath Lazarus — A Warm Brown with a Frost finish.
- Pat McGrath Xtreme Black — A Neutral Black with a Matte finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 6.0
- Pat McGrath Gigabyte — A Warm Gold with a Metallic finish.
- Pat McGrath Lazarus — A Warm Brown with a Frost finish.
- Pat McGrath Black Metal — A Neutral Black with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Xtreme Black — A Neutral Black with a Matte finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 7.0
- Pat McGrath Blitz Amethyst — A Neutral Purple with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Skinshow Fever — A Warm Gold with a Frost finish.
- Pat McGrath Lazarus — A Warm Brown with a Frost finish.
- Pat McGrath Xtreme Black — A Neutral Black with a Matte finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 8.0
- Pat McGrath Night Creature — A Warm Purple with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath VR Pink — A Warm Pink with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Lazarus — A Warm Brown with a Frost finish.
- Pat McGrath Deep Shade — A Neutral Brown with a Matte finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 9.0
- Pat McGrath VR Pink — A Warm Pink with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Gigabyte — A Warm Gold with a Metallic finish.
- Pat McGrath Blitz Amethyst — A Neutral Purple with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Black Metal — A Neutral Black with a Sparkle finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 10.0
- Pat McGrath VR Pink — A Warm Pink with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Night Creature — A Warm Purple with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Black Metal — A Neutral Black with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Xtreme Black — A Neutral Black with a Matte finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 11.0
- Pat McGrath VR Pink — A Warm Pink with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Gigabyte — A Warm Gold with a Metallic finish.
- Pat McGrath Lazarus — A Warm Brown with a Frost finish.
- Pat McGrath Deep Shade — A Neutral Brown with a Matte finish.
Pat McGrath Mothership Palette
Subversive 12.0
- Pat McGrath VR Pink — A Warm Pink with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Astral Ghost Orchid — A Cool Pink with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Blitz Amethyst — A Neutral Purple with a Sparkle finish.
- Pat McGrath Black Metal — A Neutral Black with a Sparkle finish.
I’m loving this series, please keep it up! I have Subversive and was struggling to come up with more ways to use it, so this post came at the perfect time for me. I’ll definitely come back to this page for inspiration!
Love that you are doing this. Also this may talk me into getting the Subversive and companion palette sooner rather than later!
Loving some of these very helpful and intriguing combos! I did come VERY close to purchasing this palette during the 20% sale on PMG’s site. Mainly because I saw its incredible potential if used with the Last Vie En Rose palette that I already have. Next sale, I’m doing the damn thing!
I really want all of her palettes. I love the ones I have. I guess I’m with you on the next sale.
Every time I’ve bought an eyeshadow palette off of the PM website something has come broken or the palette packaging has come damaged. Their customer service has been terrible. I have concluded the only place to safely buy them from is Sephora. 🙁
Weird! I just bought La Vie En Rose and it was totally fine. It was encased in bubble wrap and tons of paper filler.
Bookmarking this! What a great idea! Thank you!
Stop making me want this more than I already do.
Thanks so much for this!!! I’ve been playing with this palette a bit the past couple of days (after buying it when it originally released). I’m obsessed with VR Pink and Blitz Amethyst! I wore VR pink tonight as an all over color and it’s just lovely. I really like the look you did with the two colors and Gigabyte. Do you have any other suggestions on how to use blitz amethyst? I’d like to use it as the main color on the actual lid, but I’m scared to with my deep set eyes and not sure how to make it work. Thanks!
Stunning, just stunning.
This is great to refer to when I’m trying to figure out some looks to do with the my PM Subversive palette. Good job, I look forward to future posts.
i am loving this series as well!! i struggle with creating looks with the PMG palettes, so this is extremely helpful. i’m really loving these ideas!
Okay, I see now that to get the best out of the Subliminal, I’ll need this one. Argh!!!! I’ll need to keep an eye out for a sale then to get them both.